⚽UEFA Europa League Discussion Thread -- 2023/24 | SFs

[puloweh555]

Brighton 2-3 AEK Athens

Perhaps Brighton felt bigger after defeating Manchester United over the weekend; they came back from 2 goals down before conceding a late winner to E. Ponce; the bigger problem is that Brighton could not score from open play and relied on 2 penalty kicks; can they survive Europa league ?

For me this is an entertaining game. This is where we can see AEK Athena playing effectively, they never waste the slightest opportunity, even though if you look at the game statistics Brigthon is superior in every way. I just want to say that Brigthon played like he was unlucky, maybe this sentence is true. Because Brigthon played well, but AEK Athena played better. The AEK Athena players attacked Brigthon from the first whistle and did not let up, and their build up was now very effective.
If asked whether Brigthon will stay in the European league? I'm sure they will survive, this is just the beginning. They still have five more games to play, Brigthon is a team with mentality and I am sure they will win more games in the next games.

[1714948962]

1714948962

[Marvell1]

Brighton 2-3 AEK Athens

Perhaps Brighton felt bigger after defeating Manchester United over the weekend; they came back from 2 goals down before conceding a late winner to E. Ponce; the bigger problem is that Brighton could not score from open play and relied on 2 penalty kicks; can they survive Europa league ?

For me this is an entertaining game. This is where we can see AEK Athena playing effectively, they never waste the slightest opportunity, even though if you look at the game statistics Brigthon is superior in every way. I just want to say that Brigthon played like he was unlucky, maybe this sentence is true. Because Brigthon played well, but AEK Athena played better. The AEK Athena players attacked Brigthon from the first whistle and did not let up, and their build up was now very effective.
If asked whether Brigthon will stay in the European league? I'm sure they will survive, this is just the beginning. They still have five more games to play, Brigthon is a team with mentality and I am sure they will win more games in the next games.

So let me put this in perspective for some people. Manchester United lost against Brighton 3-1. And then Brighton lost against Athens (some people might not even know that this is a name of a club, to be honest) 3-2. First of all that's how bad Manchester United is right now.

But anyway, let’s talk about that Europa League for now. In this match, the defense of Brighton was really bad. Remember that Athens did not have too many chances in this match. But whenever they were able to go to the final third of the opponent they were able to pose some serious threat. They had only 24% of possession. And they were able to win the match with that. Honestly, congratulations to them.

[KTChampions]

So let me put this in perspective for some people. Manchester United lost against Brighton 3-1. And then Brighton lost against Athens (some people might not even know that this is a name of a club, to be honest) 3-2. First of all that's how bad Manchester United is right now.

But anyway, let’s talk about that Europa League for now. In this match, the defense of Brighton was really bad. Remember that Athens did not have too many chances in this match. But whenever they were able to go to the final third of the opponent they were able to pose some serious threat. They had only 24% of possession. And they were able to win the match with that. Honestly, congratulations to them.

If we continue this reasoning (United played 3-4 with Bayern), we can assume that AEK = Bayern? 
It seems to me that Brighton does not attach much importance to the Europa League because they are doing well in the Premier League and need to concentrate on the main competition. Plus, of course, underestimating the opponent played a role. Now their prospects have worsened significantly, taking into account fairly strong rivals in the form of Ajax and Marseille.

[DanWalker]

Bayern Leverkusen molested Hacken to a 4-0 defeat in their first Europa league game few days back, I didn't expect any less from Leverkusen as they stood a better chance over Hacken in that game both from the first half to the end of the game Leverkusen owned the game, I was impressed with their performance as anything less would sound disappointing to me.

Hacken didn't give Leverkusen a tough time winning the game, they sure made it easy for Leverkusen, although they tried their best as some level of pressure could be seen from them at the later minutes of the first half but then Leverkusen still gained control and brought the pressure down. They almost got a penalty but VAR check confirmed it wasn't.

Leverkusen's last and forth goal came in 20 minutes to the end of the second half which sealed the victory for the German side as against Hacken, Leverkusen have this game as their sixth unbeaten game this season both in the bundesliga and Europa league. Boniface had a further goal ruled out for offside after which he showed some good performance in the game

Honestly, Bayern Leverkusen is currently a club that can play at the Champions League level. It actually feels like Europa League is not for them right now. They are at the top of the Bundesliga table right now. Even Bayern Munich was unable to win against them. And we all know how Bayern Munich performs in the Bundesliga. I am going to make a prediction which I think is going to be true by the way. Bayern Leverkusen is going to win the Europa League title. At least if they continue performing like this, I don't think any other team will actually be able to stop them. I know that this is still early stages of Europa League. But they are definitely capable of winning this trophy.

[Stepstowealth]

Honestly, Bayern Leverkusen is currently a club that can play at the Champions League level. It actually feels like Europa League is not for them right now. They are at the top of the Bundesliga table right now. Even Bayern Munich was unable to win against them. And we all know how Bayern Munich performs in the Bundesliga. I am going to make a prediction which I think is going to be true by the way. Bayern Leverkusen is going to win the Europa League title. At least if they continue performing like this, I don't think any other team will actually be able to stop them. I know that this is still early stages of Europa League. But they are definitely capable of winning this trophy.

The regular winners of the Europa which is Sevilla may be back in the Europa from the champions league and all the teams that we think that will win this seasons Europa league will have challenges. Even Manchester United and Newcastle may be knocked out into the Europa, and Liverpool, Roma, Bayern Leverkusen are not yet sure winners. I am thinking West ham can also do it this season, but I will need to observe their play in a few more competitive games in the competition before I can add them to pure potential winners. The winner for this season will not be easy to predict. 

[borovichok]

Honestly, Bayern Leverkusen is currently a club that can play at the Champions League level. It actually feels like Europa League is not for them right now. They are at the top of the Bundesliga table right now. Even Bayern Munich was unable to win against them. And we all know how Bayern Munich performs in the Bundesliga. I am going to make a prediction which I think is going to be true by the way. Bayern Leverkusen is going to win the Europa League title. At least if they continue performing like this, I don't think any other team will actually be able to stop them. I know that this is still early stages of Europa League. But they are definitely capable of winning this trophy.

Xabi Alonso is the headcoach, so we will expects good results for the club, perhaps with the present of high quality players, there's good reasons and strength for Leverkusen to start performing in standard levels against their opponents. Thrashing BK Hacken 4 nil was an easy and satisfied game for the home team, they have ultimate priorities to meet up, they're not distracted by playing average clubs. Bayer Leverkusen is an elite club that can compete in tough competition this season. They're already contending with Bayern Munich for the benefit title this season.

[dezoel]

Athens winning that one looks a bit weird among other two. I feel like Brighton played so great so far both last season and also this season as well so people would be expecting them to play a lot better than that. Conceding three goals from Athens seem terrible to be fair and they need to bounce back from this and do a lot better.

There is still time, this is the first game so there is no rush, but if they want to do better, they need to recover from this and do a lot better. That is the only way to get out of this group stage, they do not have too many games, so this was the only one they could have made a mistake, now they have no chances left to make any mistakes and should win all the games they have to win in order to go up.

[Bananington]

Perhaps Brighton felt bigger after defeating Manchester United over the weekend; they came back from 2 goals down before conceding a late winner to E. Ponce; the bigger problem is that Brighton could not score from open play and relied on 2 penalty kicks; can they survive Europa league ?

First game for Brighton in their first game in a European competition and they messed it up, failing to win. They are in the same group with other experienced teams like Marseille and Ajax and they find themselves in bottom of the group. I think they may be able to survive the Europa and qualify for what happens next in the competition after now if they can forget this first experience and start playing with the deadliness they play with in the premier league in the europa.  They have the team that can do well in this competition, and a coach that is wise.

[Raflesia]

Even though their current performance is good in the EPL competition and a good start for Liverpool in the Europa League but saying they can win a match with any team is still unpredictable.
Currently the performance is in a positive trend and indeed the great hope of returning to the competition is clearly there, it's just that we also can't confidently say every victory in this case because precisely with too much confidence can make them fall as before.
But for the Europa League their chances of qualifying in the group phase are very large and in this match we become more aware that the coach's experience is important where Liverpool are still quite good even though they rotate because Klopp has a mature scheme to maximise the peers.

Liverpool might be inconsistent in their performance but they never jeopardize their chances of thrashing average clubs. The Reds are complete and have a good road map in the long run. Jurgen Klopp have good plans for the Reds, we should expects the best performance from them this season. Liverpool are one of the favourite club that will win Europa League trophy this season, they have an experienced coach and prominent squad, I'm not bothered about their form. Winning the opening fixture of UEL was amazing, a well deserved comeback win puts Liverpool infront.

Looking at what is happening now I am actually happy with their consistency in domestic competitions and a good start in the Europa League but when referring to the previous statement where they are ready to win against any club, especially in domestic competitions, we still need to see because in the end there are still several clubs that are even more consistent than Liverpool.
As for the Europa League there is no reason not to put them in one of the strong candidates because by looking at the clubs in the same group they remain favourites and the test may be when they are in the knock out phase and some big clubs come out of the Champions League and are in the Europa League.

[Franctoshi]

I am going to make a prediction which I think is going to be true by the way. Bayern Leverkusen is going to win the Europa League title. At least if they continue performing like this, I don't think any other team will actually be able to stop them. I know that this is still early stages of the Europa League. But they are capable of winning this trophy.

I don't agree with your prediction when clubs like Ajax, Marseille, and Liverpool are present in this season Europa cup competition, Bayern Leverkusen is good and are in their very form this season but this is another challenge from their Bundisliga cup, and there is a way that Liverpool plays when it comes to an external competition like the Champions League and Europa even though they are still recovering from underperformance of last season.

[nelson4lov]

~Snipped

It is a smaller competition than Champions League but winning it is cool. Kloppa and Liverpool will make choice when time comes but will they win Europa League but not Premier League? It is still a successful season for them so they don't under value importance of Europa League.

The priority right now is to compete and give our best to both competitions. I'd really like us to win the Premier league but that's a difficult one. If we don't win the premier league, then einning the Europa league title will suffice as a solid achievement this season in my book. The good news is that Klopp has plenty of elite talents right now to compete at the highest level. A solid midfield and our attacking game is top class.

Outstanding outcome would be winning both the EPL and Europa league title this season.

[LTU_btc]

There is plenty of good games today, like Marseille - Brighton, Sporting - Atalanta or Freibourg - West Ham. AEK - Ajax should be interesting and it's not strange to see AEK favoured there, considering how Ajax is playing so far.
My few bets for tonight - over 2.5 goals in AEK - Ajax, Roma - Servette, Slavia - Sheriff and Villarreal - Rennes. Also going with Olympiacos ML @1.57 (big stake here) against Backa Topola and Betis vs Sparta @1.75. And BTTS in Sporting - Atalanta.

[Stepstowealth]

There is plenty of good games today, like Marseille - Brighton,

Brighton continue to suffer defeats after Aston Villa's disciplinary action on them in their last premier league fixture where they lost by six goals. It is very surprising because they started the season well, but since their first game in the European competition, they have lost their confidence. Even with Estupinan's injury and absence, they still have a good team line up for the game, but they still disappoint. No coming back for them in this game.
West Ham are leading their own game and their is a confidence about the team that they can win their game against Freiburg comfortably.

[Joca97]

There is plenty of good games today, like Marseille - Brighton,

Brighton continue to suffer defeats after Aston Villa's disciplinary action on them in their last premier league fixture where they lost by six goals. It is very surprising because they started the season well, but since their first game in the European competition, they have lost their confidence. Even with Estupinan's injury and absence, they still have a good team line up for the game, but they still disappoint. No coming back for them in this game.
West Ham are leading their own game and their is a confidence about the team that they can win their game against Freiburg comfortably.

I dont know what is with this england teams in europe league and conference. They are really bad in this tournament especially Brighton that just cannot find a way to win. They are losing 2-0 on halftime and i dont see them coming back from this honestly. They are completely different in premier league and in europe.

[EL MOHA]

I don't agree with your prediction when clubs like Ajax, Marseille, and Liverpool are present in this season Europa cup competition, Bayern Leverkusen is good and are in their very form this season but this is another challenge from their Bundisliga cup, and there is a way that Liverpool plays when it comes to an external competition like the Champions League and Europa even though they are still recovering from underperformance of last season.

Bayern Leverkusen are currently one of the favorite to win the competition but I agree with you that Liverpool are definitely up there with them. Both teams are pulling weight in their league and with the way the teams are in this competition I see both of them going very far. Marseille can go far too but I don’t see them on same par with the first two. As for Ajax I don’t count them in this competition, since the start of last season where Erik Ten Hag left them they have been shadow of them selves and have won just once in the league. Their last match in the Europa league they blew away their two goal lead.

One other thing we are not considering in this title chase is the fact that other top clubs will drop down from the Champions league and most of them I went on to win the title, so for now the favorite will just be speculation until after this group stage we can not predict this competition rightly

[buwaytress]

I dont know what is with this england teams in europe league and conference. They are really bad in this tournament especially Brighton that just cannot find a way to win. They are losing 2-0 on halftime and i dont see them coming back from this honestly. They are completely different in premier league and in europe.

West Ham hold their own pretty well, a staple for me in UEFA but I have been cautiously stepping my foot off the Brighton gas for a few games now. Purged them from my FPL just before their thrashing by the Villains, and put Marseille on my picks tonight despite their hot/cold indifference in Ligue 1.

They're bottom half in the French farmers' league but they have rich experience at this stage, something I think Brighton are going to require time before they shake off their naivety...

[Lida93]

Honestly, Bayern Leverkusen is currently a club that can play at the Champions League level. It actually feels like Europa League is not for them right now. They are at the top of the Bundesliga table right now. Even Bayern Munich was unable to win against them. And we all know how Bayern Munich performs in the Bundesliga. I am going to make a prediction which I think is going to be true by the way. Bayern Leverkusen is going to win the Europa League title. At least if they continue performing like this, I don't think any other team will actually be able to stop them. I know that this is still early stages of Europa League. But they are definitely capable of winning this trophy.

You can't bet on that yet as the competition is still young and the owners of the EL title race are yet to return from the UCL for it is only at that stage we get to know who's actually strong and favourite for the trophy. Am not disputing Bayer Leverkusens' ability to lift the EL trophy if we're to cross check their stats so far this season they have been with a top notch in each game but the EL can be dicey at times that not the team that started well may turn out to be the winning champion.

[casperBGD]

~snip
West Ham hold their own pretty well, a staple for me in UEFA but I have been cautiously stepping my foot off the Brighton gas for a few games now. Purged them from my FPL just before their thrashing by the Villains, and put Marseille on my picks tonight despite their hot/cold indifference in Ligue 1.

late equalizer for Brighton, I presume you didn't like that
they are sliding down with form obviously, but one can't write them down completely

West Ham has a good season on the other hand, winning in Germany was never EPL teams thing, but City also won yesterday

elsewhere, TSC got point against Olympiakos, playing 2:2 (after another Serbian club played 2:2 at home yesterday, Crvena Zvezda)
first round, all three Serbian clubs lost 3:1, after scoring first

if we follow analogy, Cukaricki (third Serbian club) should play 2:2 against Genk tonight in Conference league, will be interesting to see will that come up as true

[Stepstowealth]

I dont know what is with this england teams in europe league and conference. They are really bad in this tournament especially Brighton that just cannot find a way to win. They are losing 2-0 on halftime and i dont see them coming back from this honestly. They are completely different in premier league and in europe.

They got two goals in the second half surprisingly. Shame on Marseille for not being able to score another goal in the second half to allow Brighton two goals to deny them this victory. Brighton will be preparing to play Ajax next in the European tournament, the coach need to plan for that game because so far in the competition, they have not performed well. They need to win Ajax in their next game if they still want to remain in the competition and have good hopes of moving on in it. Brighton need to shake off the tension of the competition, they can play good football if they are more relaxed.

[Jossque]

Group B continues in a very exciting way. After the 2nd round of matches, an unexpected team, AEK, is now the leader of the group. In the matches played today, AEK drew 1-1 with Ajax. We could almost say that AEK could have defeated Ajax but they didn't make the most of their positions. I didn't expect them to have so many shots against Ajax, Ajax used to be better. Now it seems that the days of Ajax dominating are over.
In the other game in the group Marseille drew 2-2 with Brighton at home. 2 out of form teams with poor results in the league, a draw with goals against each other might help them to make a slightly better return to the league. Marseille scored in the 19th and 20th minutes of the first half to go 2-0 up but couldn't keep the score.